Wyoming State Treasurer Election: Curt Meier

NLJ: Please tell us why you want to hold this office, and what you intend to accomplish if elected. Please be specific about your goals and objectives, so our readers can measure your progress over the course of the term. Also tell us what qualifications and characteristics you possess that will help ensure that your stated goals can be achieved. (The same question was posed to all candidates for the General Election.)
Curt Meier
Wyoming is in my heart, and after spending the past couple of weeks talking to family, friends and other supporters around the state about this decision, I feel that offering the expertise I’ve acquired since joining the Wyoming Senate in 1995 to the office of State Treasurer is simply the right thing to do. I want to use the knowledge and experience gained through four decades of service to the people of Wyoming to secure and continue the recent growth in the state’s investment returns. 
My experience on the Appropriations Committee from 2007-14 gave me particularly valuable insight into state finance because the committee was confronted with the need to set state budgets in both good times and bad.
I am a Wyoming farmer and businessman, and my wife, Charlene, taught school in Goshen County for 44 years, while I continued to successfully manage our growing business ventures, so I know how to secure the maximum return on investments without risking the farm.
The State Treasurer has the ability to affect dramatic positive changes to both the economy and balancing the state’s budget. The legislature has provided some of the tools as legislative designated investments, and the office will be run to maximize the positive effects of our legislative initiatives. Investing in Wyoming and its businesses as part of a general diversified portfolio is also an option.
However, the due diligence for this type of investment would best be handled by local professionals in a shared risk pool with state participation, working within constitutional limitations, as always. Deposits in our local banks will also assure the financial health of our lending institutions.
My goal is  to effectively and efficiently invest your state funds, to get a return that is better than average with overall risk that is less than expected. Getting a significant increase in return on investments — at least two to three percent — is essential for economic development, balancing the budget, and paying our K-12 educational bills. The return at the retirement system was over 14 percent and the treasury over 9 percent. We have some room for improvement, and we must use care and proceed where the data leads.
The first step is a forensic audit of all accounts, agreements and contracts of all funds. We have to know exactly where we are and what, if any, immediate changes are necessary. Next we increase the numbers of sub-accounts that can be invested in non-fixed income assets, and turn the mechanism to do so over to the State Loan and Investment Board. Legislation is pending for that after passage of Constitutional Amendment A, and I would also like to include the $1.6 billion in the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account in these efforts. This will all allow us to move prudently back into investments determined by recommended asset allocation, and we can begin to set our sights higher. We can prepare by increasing the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund’s reserve/inflation account.
I have relieved myself of day-to-day responsibilities for my business operations so I could commit myself to serving the people of Wyoming full time, and I believe I can be most valuable to the state in the office of state treasurer. I’m not running for this office to get a job, and I’m not running to put another feature in my cap. I can devote all of my time to doing the things the treasurer has to do, and I have the experience, knowledge and passion to do that job well.